Sulaco

Alright, I feel like a douche for even posting this, but I felt I had to share.

Coming home after a really late day at work (7 AM until 10 PM). Stop at a red light on abandoned, big, split, 4-lane street on the edge of down. Notice the car in the right lane (only other car around) is a dark red Pontiac G8 GT. Not a GXP, but still a very respectable sport sedan. Guy gives me the look and a soft rev. The rev made his car lurch forward so I know he's got an automatic instead of the 6 speed.

I'm real hesitant of red-light running like this, but I seriously thought about it. The guy's gonna beat me, but I'm curious by just how much my 99 with nearly 300k miles would do against this LS powered G8 with an autobox.

Anyway, light turns green and I've decided not to run it. The guy lets me roll out and I'm already half way through 2nd gear (normal driving, not pushing anything) and a couple lengths past him before he decides he's racing and floors it. I hear his exhaust scream as he lunges up to me.

But my adrenalin got the best of me and I hit the kickdown switch.

Keep in mind, I still have a strange rear suspension issue whenever I accelerate: the back end tries to self steer a wee bit and the rear it dances around like I'm losing traction but I'm not. Even took it to the shop, they can't find out what it is and recommended I start replacing stuff until it went away. Not yet, can't afford it.

I'm still slow enough that it downshifts to first and I see the ESP light flash once.

By the time I shift into 2nd, my nose is dead even with his driver's door handle, and that's where it stayed. I absolutely couldn't believe it. This G8 should be walking away, but he's not. through second and half way through third I never lost or gained an inch. We both let out and hit the brakes to bring it back down to 50. Next light, he turns off. We give each other a honk and a thumbs up.

The funny part is that I heard a small pop sound and when I got home my idler pulley had completely left and the belt was rolling over the bolt. So, can't drive her again until my new febi bilstein idler pulley arrives.

Wife got a new car, a Jeep Compass, so I can finally park one of the C43's and do an E55 swap!!

PJmak

What are the specs on the g8?

I think i might ha e the same issue with the rear suspension.

KJI3jflarryfe93

is this only happening in america getting challenged in traffic?
my dikk is bigger than your dikk mentality, because of that i will challenge you!?
reckless driving is dangerous!

c43amgN843

SMH.....

Sulaco

Hmmm, not sure how to respond to that one.

KJI3jflarryfe93

something like dis?


or this

KJI3jflarryfe93

i'm not trying to be sarcastic, i mean you are at a redlight with your c43, in the lane next to you a dork with a souped up car revs the engine, you get the munchies to race him, that's a provocation from the other driver to see who's got the faster car.
many times i read here that some of the other forum guys raced a car in traffic and murdered it.
that's dangerous and stupeed driving.
a c36/43 is pritty fast for it's age, these cars draws some attention from other drivers not always for good situations?

PJmak

Nothing wrong with having a little fun. Just keep it safe and know your limits.

Sulaco

I see your points and tend to agree. I'm not "proud" of running the guy for a bit.

But C43's are relatively slow cars, but are also very safe and reliable and practically idiot proof to drive. It's not like we were in Lambos or Corvettes with way more horsepower and way more likelihood to spin or crash. Plus, the roads were completely abandoned and we only reached about 70mph in a 50mph zone. I mean, I do 60 mph down this road every day. I do 95mph for 34 miles down the interstate every day.

But don't worry, I've avoided MANY idiots at red lights in the city. Traffic and pedestrians around and some fool in his Mustang revving his engine and staring at me, wants to race. I've NEVER fallen for it and I just let the idiot shoot away winding his gears. But as PJ said, every once in a while it's okay to have some fun.

You telling me you've never floored your C43 unless it was on a closed course race track with full safety crew and equipment?

cm60k

Ohhhhh shxxxx, what a hell with that lambo,

anyone tell me pls.; what's the color of Champagne that NIGHT..???

ZAYED,,

KJI3jflarryfe93

of course i floor it sometimes I have an AMG and I would be a hypocrite if I didn't admit flooring it sometimes.
however I only floor it where it's safe to do it, but I don't do any racing, that's plain stupeed!

when you drive like the devil you get unwanted attention by cops and they will fine you for reckless driving.
that's no good feeding government with your hard earned cash

Dziner82

doesn't surprise me all that much, dont forget that G8 weighs 4100 lbs!
the G8 GT only goes to 60mph in 5.3 seconds, C43 i think does it in 5.4-5.5... so unless your talking about a full quarter mile race the car isnt all that much faster.
also sounds like he tried to get you at a good spot of the C43 powerband (2nd-3rd gear).

DATURK

wht part of Nashville this happened at?

///AchMeinGott

Oh god, the anti-racing nonsense again...

Buying a fast car and not nailing it is absolutely, 100% a waste(unless of course, you want cool car X that just happens to be fast, which is rarely the case let's be honest). The difference between safe(OhNoHeDidnt!) street racing and just redlining it for 2 gears is the car next to you, nothing more, nothing less. There's a time and a place for everything, even street racing. Nothing is magically safer at 100mph on an abandoned, upkept highway VS a drag strip. Personally, I'd rather that extra 2 lane space to try and correct vs slamming into a wall at a drag strip if something gets hairy.

Anywho, the G8 GT is an LSx family motor, the L76. 355hp, 385lb-ft, variable cam timing, and displacement on demand. It's also 6-speed auto only and nearly 4000lbs. So yes, you're down on power, but also weight.

The thing that saved you is, the 6L80 trans has a nasty 4.xx 1st gear. That, plus huge low end, means it loves hole shots. He was too late to walk you in 1st, but had enough rpm's left to inch ahead of you. 2nd isn't a giant drop off, but it's still not nearly aggressive as 1st. So avoiding that door to door hole shot, it was just a 300hp/3450lb car vs a 355hp/3950lb car race. Very similar power to weight ratios.

Sulaco

That's a really good explanation.

I love the G8's and always thought it was tragic that they were finally making awesome Pontiacs again right before they shut down. Part of me is afraid the same thing is happening to Dodge right now. But the G8's are great looking with perfect sport sedan proportions. Honestly between an E39 M5 and a 6 speed G8 GT, I'd take that G8 any day of the week.

My all time favorite car is the C43, but I know it's not nearly as quick as it should be (thanks, MB, for nerfing it with the 4.3l instead of the mighty 5.4l, that would've been a VERY different outcome). I love my cars but know they won't outrun any proper-quick cars. I guess I just always assumed that any LS powered GM would smoke me any day of the week.

As well they should. I just never knew the automatic G8 GT was so heavy and down on power (relatively for an LS).

But yeah, had it been a true 0-start even race, he would have absolutely jumped out in front of me real quick and stayed there. I just got real lucky and nailed it at precisely the right time to keep up with him. I bet on a long enough road his added torque and power would've enabled him to start walking away from me.

But still, for just those few seconds, I wasn't embarrassed by how slow my C43 was. Sure, it could whip up on 95% of all the idiot ricers and non-M BMW's on the road, but once you get into proper V8 territory the C43 is seriously underpowered.

KJI3jflarryfe93

i did a stupeed thing today

i couldn't help it, The devil in Mr. Jones hit my right leg today!
I raced the latest S-klasse 400 Hybrid.
this S-klasse driver was in the right lane and I was in the left lane.
lights turned green and we both floored it, I had to gunn my car but murdered him.

I laughed by myself in my car today thinking about this thread

shame on you Kowalski!

Sulaco

haha, nice! bad kowalski! bad!

KJI3jflarryfe93

yeah!
I was bad, my rational adult behaviour was left at home today.
haha haha haha haha!

///AchMeinGott

Nah Dodge is doin fine. The Hellcats are so backordered they stopped taking orders because they can't promise anything close to a delivery date. The Scat pack "big motor in low options car" a philosophy people have been clamoring for for years, are bargain priced. Plus, they just revealed the new Viper ACR today.

Regrettably, axing Pontiac made the most financial sense. Looking back, they were no longer the excitememt division, they became the clone division save the Solstice and G8/GTO. In fact, Chevy had the Cobalt SS turbo, which could destroy everything Pontiac made, save those 3(to be fair though, that'll give a few AMG's a hard time). With the release of the Camaro the next year, we didn't loose much. And although many shrug the SS sedan as just a bow-tie G8 GXP, dig deeper and you'll see the 15+ model, and even the 14, is so much more. Great overall cars, despite the Malibu looks. The G8 was no slouch though, but a hair to big for something fun. 3800lbs is about my personal limit. That's why the #1 car on my list is the LS2 GTO.

Yeah the L76 is nearly a truck motor, which was(and I say this loosely) toned down from the LS2, which was then made a little hotter for car duty. The variable cam timing gave it a bit more low end then even the LS2 for truck/heavy cars, despite being down 15 peak lb-ft. Displacement on demand though, due to lifter design, limits the cam from being too aggressive, thus being down 50hp, and peaking at like 5500rpms while the LS2 has no problem pulling to 6500rpm's. Put better springs in, swap cams, and ask the tuner to simply turn variable displacement off, and you have nearly the potential equivelant of any other 6.0.

Too many people like to say the LSx are just truck motors, while each one is built for a specific purpose. The L76 though basically is(which fits the heavy car). The AMG 4.3 is much more willing to rev, plus your car is much lighter. Torque may be fun, but I value a motor being able to pull all the way to at least 6000. Lightness takes the cake in my book.

You'd have him beat in aerodynamics easily, but 360 vs 300hp, I dunno. Yeah 300hp ain't what it used to be. I had a 300hp/340lb-ft C4 corvette, which at 3300lbs, surprised many. I want to surpass that car, and now that I need a car with a respectible back seat for my 5yo boy, all my options are 3500+lbs. That means I need around 350hp, and good modding potential is a plus. The C43 styling is kinda nostalgic to me, as my folks have had a 95 E300d for years, now with nearly 360k miles on original(barely surviving) drivetrain. As rare a car as it may be, there's no way to justify the nearly-C55 prices people want for low mileage ones.

So that's what I'm bidding my time for, C/CLK55 or 6.0 GTO. I just don't know if I can live with another automatic...

99CEEFOURTHREE

Take THE PONTICHICKEN up on the highway and do a pull from 80...bye bye g8!!!!

///AchMeinGott

I don't think roll racing is pointless like some, but...

What kind of stupid BS is starting at 80mph?!? Sure, maybe if it's Aventador VS F12 80-180mph... besides, probably superior aero aside, it's 300hp VS 360hp(and a shiz ton more torque). That's not exactly a win for a C43. Both have limiters anyway I think(Don't think the G8 GXP does, but that's not important).

Sulaco

I think our friend is just highlighting the C43's best range. These things are insane interstate beasts. From 80+ they act like they are more powerful than they are.

Had to sacrifice off-the-line performance to a great deal, though. REALLY tall gearing in the diff.

Dziner82

i had some great 60-120mph pulls against other cars at Road America this past saturday good way to safely see how our cars pulls against other cars in that high mph range, i started another thread to not get too far off topic here

99CEEFOURTHREE

Yes exactly!!

nd4spd13

This is so true. I haven't posted for a while but this weekend made me want to. Had a Camry 4cyl rental and the whole trip was highway. Every time i touched the gas pedal a bit to pass someone while it was on cruise it would need to drop down a gear or 2, and I kept getting annoyed at it. I guess the AMG has spoiled me with being able to stay in the same gear AND accelerating at a decent pace.